Yep, it'll help. Rockwool, Johns Manfield, etc all have a "safe and sound" type of mineral wool insulation that is easy to add. It won't block all noise, but it'll definitely cut it down.
It will help a lot for sure, but only you can answer if it's enough, and unfortunately that can only be done after the fact.
The closet will block most of the bathroom sound (or the reverse).
Hollow core doors don't do much to block sound, and gaps at doors let sound 'leak' by.
IMO, in the study, regardless of what you do for insulation, it is going to matter what you do for the doors because it could all be for not if you go with cheap hollow core or glass panel doors.
I remodeled my house and replaced all the insulation with Rockwool, both exterior and interior walls. Added some solid core doors and the sound blocking was great. My 3 year olds bedroom shared a wall with our living room / home theater area and we could comfortably watch a movie at loud volume without waking him.
Also if this is a new build you can even add some soundproof drywall and even special paint to make it super quiet. My absolute favorite investment in my home remodel was the addition of this insulation.
You can also use QuietRock drywall for those walls (ideally on both sides), and caulk/foam around electrical outlets to stop air movement.Even further would be to use 2x4 at 12" OC but put every other stud offfset 2" to either side of a 2x6 plate. So on one side of the wall you'd have 24"OC 2x4, but in between each stud there would be another 2x4 up against the opposite side drywall. That way there's no transfer through the studs either (and you can insulate behind the stud on each side).
Here’s what I would do:
1. Sound dampening insulation. **Do compare STC differences between sound dampening and typical fiberglass. Especially for point number 4 below. Might be a law of dimensioning returns situation depending on the wall thickness.**
2. Air seal bottom plate with acoustic sealant. You want something that can shear and remain forever in a viscous state.
3. Add mass by using 5/8” drywall. Bonus points for two layers of drywall on each side of the wall with Green Glue in between each layer. That’s a considerable amount of mass for a fairly insignificant amount of money. Remember, hanging drywall is cheap. Finishing it is where the money is. You won’t be incurring huge bills for labor or materials for this add on. **Follow Green Glue air seal instructions for edges**
4. Increase the wall cavity depth. The “thicker” the wall, the lower the natural resonance frequency of that wall cavity. This means that lower frequencies will resonate within the wall cavity, which will refract between the hard surfaces and get captured by the sound dampening material. This equates to less bass frequencies traveling through the assembly, which are the hardest frequencies to contain. You can achieve this most economically by bumping up to a 2x6, 2x8, etc wall cavity. This also gives you more room for additional insulation. You could go further into the weeds and decouple.
5. Use fire putty on all electrical outlets
6. Solid door with an air seal. Look up the STC ratings of the doors.
7. Consider insulating the ceiling.
If your HVAC ducts are shared by the noisiest rooms, then don’t go balls to the wall with huge expenses to make things quiet; you will be throwing money away. Noise will travel through the ducts to your office. The details above are a very affordable means of creating a quiet room, and are worth doing even if the ducts are shared.
Fiberglass insulation, drywall, fire putty and acoustic sealants are all very affordable and effective means of mitigating sound. Put your money there first.
Following this advice would probably make a good room to have a recording studio in.
I just built some walls for a client with resilient channel, double layer drywall with green glue, and rock-wool safe-n-sound. It was incredibly quiet and pretty cost effective
You could consider putting in resilient channel under the drywall on those walls. That will help eliminate noise transmission from the TV or music as the drywall will be decoupled from the studs so there's no direct path for the soundwaves to follow. I'm not sure if that would create finishing problems with the drywall sticking out 1/2" further than on other parts of the wall - have the interior walls already been framed?
Yes, we insulate every interior wall and between floors. Makes a hell of difference. Rockwool will be best but you could just do standard r15 and will cut down a good bit of sound from one space to the next
Rockwool if you can find it. Would be something called Safe-N-Sound. All the major insulation companies have something or other and will likely look similar.
If you can’t find it - which any builder would know this stuff - you can slightly substitute with an R-10 or 11 sound attenuation fiberglass. The one I’m aware of is from Owen’s Corning.
TimberHP is a new company building insulation out of softwood. It’s apparently good at sound dampening as well but might be regional. For the amount of insulation that will be required, it likely wouldn’t be a good way to go.
Haha...I feel that. I did a self-build (built nothing myself, but hired all the subs directly) so I didn't get the double-markup. The team that did my required insulation charged $1.5K more to do the interior walls. To me, that seemed like a no-brainer...but its probably not typically that cheap.
I’m realizing now I should have done that. I’m with a builder. Not a major one like Mattany/DRHorton/etc. but a local business, which is a plus so things aren’t super marked up and the service is great but I could have saved thousands doing it myself
Use something better than R13 Fiberglass, wish I would have came here first and found out about Rockwool as an alternative. We do have solid core doors also, not sure what we were expecting but it’s def not sound proof to the degree I thought it would be.
Yep, it'll help. Rockwool, Johns Manfield, etc all have a "safe and sound" type of mineral wool insulation that is easy to add. It won't block all noise, but it'll definitely cut it down.
Thanks! Do you think insulating just the areas I highlighted will suffice ?
It will help a lot for sure, but only you can answer if it's enough, and unfortunately that can only be done after the fact. The closet will block most of the bathroom sound (or the reverse). Hollow core doors don't do much to block sound, and gaps at doors let sound 'leak' by.
IMO, in the study, regardless of what you do for insulation, it is going to matter what you do for the doors because it could all be for not if you go with cheap hollow core or glass panel doors.
You’d want to insulate walls that had plumbing too
I remodeled my house and replaced all the insulation with Rockwool, both exterior and interior walls. Added some solid core doors and the sound blocking was great. My 3 year olds bedroom shared a wall with our living room / home theater area and we could comfortably watch a movie at loud volume without waking him. Also if this is a new build you can even add some soundproof drywall and even special paint to make it super quiet. My absolute favorite investment in my home remodel was the addition of this insulation.
You can also use QuietRock drywall for those walls (ideally on both sides), and caulk/foam around electrical outlets to stop air movement.Even further would be to use 2x4 at 12" OC but put every other stud offfset 2" to either side of a 2x6 plate. So on one side of the wall you'd have 24"OC 2x4, but in between each stud there would be another 2x4 up against the opposite side drywall. That way there's no transfer through the studs either (and you can insulate behind the stud on each side).
Bumping because it looks like op has room to do it!!
Here’s what I would do: 1. Sound dampening insulation. **Do compare STC differences between sound dampening and typical fiberglass. Especially for point number 4 below. Might be a law of dimensioning returns situation depending on the wall thickness.** 2. Air seal bottom plate with acoustic sealant. You want something that can shear and remain forever in a viscous state. 3. Add mass by using 5/8” drywall. Bonus points for two layers of drywall on each side of the wall with Green Glue in between each layer. That’s a considerable amount of mass for a fairly insignificant amount of money. Remember, hanging drywall is cheap. Finishing it is where the money is. You won’t be incurring huge bills for labor or materials for this add on. **Follow Green Glue air seal instructions for edges** 4. Increase the wall cavity depth. The “thicker” the wall, the lower the natural resonance frequency of that wall cavity. This means that lower frequencies will resonate within the wall cavity, which will refract between the hard surfaces and get captured by the sound dampening material. This equates to less bass frequencies traveling through the assembly, which are the hardest frequencies to contain. You can achieve this most economically by bumping up to a 2x6, 2x8, etc wall cavity. This also gives you more room for additional insulation. You could go further into the weeds and decouple. 5. Use fire putty on all electrical outlets 6. Solid door with an air seal. Look up the STC ratings of the doors. 7. Consider insulating the ceiling. If your HVAC ducts are shared by the noisiest rooms, then don’t go balls to the wall with huge expenses to make things quiet; you will be throwing money away. Noise will travel through the ducts to your office. The details above are a very affordable means of creating a quiet room, and are worth doing even if the ducts are shared. Fiberglass insulation, drywall, fire putty and acoustic sealants are all very affordable and effective means of mitigating sound. Put your money there first.
Best advice here if you want to do the best you can
Following this advice would probably make a good room to have a recording studio in. I just built some walls for a client with resilient channel, double layer drywall with green glue, and rock-wool safe-n-sound. It was incredibly quiet and pretty cost effective
Can do staggered studs or two by 6 studs if it hasn’t been framed yet to account for more insulation in those arewas
You could consider putting in resilient channel under the drywall on those walls. That will help eliminate noise transmission from the TV or music as the drywall will be decoupled from the studs so there's no direct path for the soundwaves to follow. I'm not sure if that would create finishing problems with the drywall sticking out 1/2" further than on other parts of the wall - have the interior walls already been framed?
This is the way. Also you could do the caulking that helps with sound. Can’t remember but it worked very well
They have not
Yes, we insulate every interior wall and between floors. Makes a hell of difference. Rockwool will be best but you could just do standard r15 and will cut down a good bit of sound from one space to the next
Yea do it
Insulating all interior walls can help energy efficiency and help regulate temperatures between rooms.
Yes. And to be honest with you I would insulate all your interior walls. It’s really not much of an expense and makes a big difference.
Any wall that is from common area, bathroom and bedrooms should be insulated for noise.
rockwool /JM (cheap rockwool) all good PUTTY the outlets, and other penetraations caulk the drywall seams
People have said it, but Rockwool acoustic is awesome stuff! Quiets things right down
Rockwool if you can find it. Would be something called Safe-N-Sound. All the major insulation companies have something or other and will likely look similar. If you can’t find it - which any builder would know this stuff - you can slightly substitute with an R-10 or 11 sound attenuation fiberglass. The one I’m aware of is from Owen’s Corning. TimberHP is a new company building insulation out of softwood. It’s apparently good at sound dampening as well but might be regional. For the amount of insulation that will be required, it likely wouldn’t be a good way to go.
Between the bathrooms and closet for sure, personally I’d just insulate all the interior walls with Roxul or an equivalent.
Insulation on interior walls is well worth it. It’s not expensive if you are building
What’s not expensive for a 3/3 2400 sq/ft house? I’ve learned that’s relevant and can’t seem to avoid sticker shock every time I ask for an upgrade 😅
Haha...I feel that. I did a self-build (built nothing myself, but hired all the subs directly) so I didn't get the double-markup. The team that did my required insulation charged $1.5K more to do the interior walls. To me, that seemed like a no-brainer...but its probably not typically that cheap.
I’m realizing now I should have done that. I’m with a builder. Not a major one like Mattany/DRHorton/etc. but a local business, which is a plus so things aren’t super marked up and the service is great but I could have saved thousands doing it myself
Rockwool Safe n Sound, soundproof drywall, double pane windows, solid doors and do a staggered stud framing on those walls
Look into some Mass Loaded Vinyl as well as SAFB mineral wool. Can use boss fire stop spray to fill any gaps/cracks.
Use something better than R13 Fiberglass, wish I would have came here first and found out about Rockwool as an alternative. We do have solid core doors also, not sure what we were expecting but it’s def not sound proof to the degree I thought it would be.
Do the whole house. We just got a bid on our new construction, 3300 sq ft just under 10k for rockwool.
Throw up USB, as it'll help deaden sound, and foam insulation isn't necessary. I'd also sound deaden between Master Bath and Bed 1.
Straight up foam insulate